and I also don't find it productive to try to respond to each post trying to convince them otherwise that the program is heading in the right direction. I will offer some alternative ideas as to what Whit will look at and evaluates....

First of all, it will not matter to him what VCU, ODU, Norfolk State, and, frankly, Maryland are doing. UVA always factors in from a competitive landscape evaluation for multiple obvious reasons. VT recruits a different type of player than ODU, VCU, and Norfolk State recruit. This is not to disparage those schools at all (so no one needs to take offense to that). They will have good teams many years and even better teams (than us or UVA for that matter) some years, and have kids that go on to play pro ball at various levels. But typically, if VT wants a player that those three schools also want, MOST of the time, they are picking VT. Not in every single case. Congrats to those schools btw, I hope they do well. But Whit doesn't evaluate anything based on what they are doing. And recruiting is going well at this time......

As far as Maryland goes, Szefc took Maryland to their only three tournaments in the modern era (since 1971) prior to today's selection. The prior coach (Bakich) was gone from Maryland for two years before they got into the NCAA tourney in 2014. Not to say Bakich doesn't deserve any credit for that rise, but Maryland (before today) hasn't gone to an NCAA tourney since Szefc left three years ago. So, that is not a coincidence that they didn't go before or after his tenure......Btw, Bakich was 20-70 in ACC play in his three years at Maryland before heading to Michigan. By any neutral observer, Maryland should not have gotten in the tournament today. 13 of their 28 wins were Quad 4 wins. And one top 50 win. That is not close to a tournament resume for a school from a major conference. Szefc went to the tournament 3 of his 5 years at Maryland, and two of those were Super Regional teams. Go back to Marist.......He took Marist to four NCAA tournaments in 7 seasons. Marist has only been to the tourney 7 times in their history. So four tourneys in 7 years there. Whit is noting that his current coach went to the NCAA tournament 7 times in 12 years as a head guy at schools with no baseball tradition.....Two of those were Super Regional appearances.

Here is what else will be evaluated......VT has not had a winning record since 2013 and has not played in the ACC tourney since 2013. Of course, the ACC tourney alone is not our goal. But reality is what it is. Here is the three year progressions of records:

21-33 overall 8-22 ACC
26-27 overall 9-21 ACC
27-25 overall 16-20 ACC

As discussed, this year presented 38 games against ACC teams (including the tournament which reflects in the overall record). No other season offers an apples to apples comparison. That is significant progress. There were several reasons why the late season swoon occurred and hopefully it is a learning experience for several reasons. Furthermore, even if Whit wanted to make any change, no coach wants to come here if he sees that progression and the previous coach was let go (especially coming from the situation we were coming from). Especially when one knows the background of success that Szefc has had in the industry at tough places.

Finally, this is Whit's hire (not inherited from the previous administration). That will factor into any decision. Whit knows we can't keep changing coaches if we are building a program. And Whit also understands baseball recruiting is done differently than other sports. Next year is year 5 of 6. The success, or lack thereof, will play out in a natural course. Meaning, either there will be an extension, or not, next year. If there isn't, it will be obvious what direction he will go in.....Unless there is some other issue (like with another coach in another sport that was let go), he will not make a change this year.

We were two regular season wins away from a tournament birth this year, and we haven't sniffed that in 8 years. No one is saying there is a guarantee here with our situation or that everything is perfect....our late season swoon was similar to others in our league with far greater experience. No one is guaranteeing we will win at a high level next year. The track record says we will start to win, and I know Whit pretty well, and he will give it its due time and evaluation. But this pretty much will be what Whit evaluates......